Fire emblem: Brothers in Arms
by Starbreaker195
Summary: An alternate universe where Byleth has a younger brother named Robin, who walks a similar path as he.
1. Chapter 1

**Prologue**

Byleth's ears rang with the howls of humans trying to kill each other, friends turned enemies, loyalties divided. brother against brother. All for the sake of what they believed in.

He saw his _own_ brother charging at a speed almost to fast for him to follow, there was a reason he was called the 'Lightning Angel' during their mercenary days completely eviscerating any enemy in his path, his normally white blade turned scarlet with the blood of his enemies, and Byleth's friends and loved ones.

"...Brother." Byleth said, drawing the sword of the creator he had gained during his time as a professor. "I don't remember you being the one able to kill that easily, nor do I remember you having strength to go with all that speed."

His words carried the weight of a thousand enemies, and the fighting slowed to as stop to watch the interaction. It was almost like one of those operas Dorothea and Manuela had told him of, center stage, everyone waiting on the lead stars next move.

But this was no opera. This was a war, and his brother was his enemy. His own brother. Byleth may have stunted emotions, but even he felt overcome with a desperate need to bring his only family to his side.

The man Byleth called his brother ripped his sword out of a soldier of the blue lions, though not without some effort. Blood spurted from the hole in the neck of the soldier, staining the grass with even more blood, his sword looked like it had been blunted from being continuously soaked with blood.

"I don't remember you talking so much… big brother." The young man responded, sweeping midnight black hair out of his dark blue eyes. Byleth remembered they were once lighter than that. Kinder. "I haven't seen you since the battle of Garreg mach monastery."

"You look older, almost my age now..." Byleth said. "And tired..."

"And yet still that still brings out absolutely nothing in terms of emotion from you. I've always hated that."

"Why do you fight on their side after eveything they've done?" Byleth ignored the remark, instead attempting to reason with the family member he would have to kill if he failed. "Why do you fight on the path of the bloodshed and pain?"

"I fight for the truth, big brother. I draw my blade for the _truth_. Why do you fight for them!?" Byleth's little brother began to get emotional, his hands were as shaky as his voice. "Why do you fight on the side of the people that experimented on you! On Father? Answer me!"

"Why do you fight on the side of the people that _killed _father?" Byleth's voice was still blank and cold. And it made the Lightning Angel flinch. The ashen demon was rearing it's head. And he got into his all familiar combat stance. Realizing that his brother wasn't going to listen.

"...This conversation is pointless… as a last gift to you brother. I will end this quickly."

The lightning Angel disappeared from Byleth's eyes, and he swung his blade _behind _him just in time to lock blades with him. Sparks flying off their blades at the impact. Byleth dragged the sword of the creator up the length of the blade, aiming for the neck but missed as his little brother flipped backwards.

"...Very well… To all of my allies watching this! Here is something to believe in!" Byleth raised his sword high, his voice _finally _showing emotion as he spoke, a resounding cheer that gave his allies strength. "Come at me! Robin!'

"Byleth… I will watch the light fade from your eyes!" Robin launched forward, twirling his blade as he spun in the air, lightning coursing along the blade.

Byleth's sword glowed a vibrant red, and he swung back.

**Line break**

Two iron blades connected in an intense clash of sparks and grunts, before they backed away and charged again, this time, the black haired holder of the blade disappeared from the blue haired holder's sight, only to reappear in a flash behind him.

"That won't work Robin." Byleth said, blocking the strike before parrying the blade out of Robins hands, kicking him to the ground and stabbing the dirt beside his face. "See? Your dead. Again. You should really put on armor."

Robin sighed and pushed himself off the ground to reach his sword, and rolled his eyes at the cracks along it. "You broke another blade Big brother."

"It wasn't your sword though. And please put on some armor."

"Yes, but father will be mad. He'll have to spend more gold on another one."

"Please put on some armor." Byleth repeated. Robin scowled.

"It slows me down too much, I don't have a lot of strength and I don't like pain much so I need to be fast. Father tells me the same thing." He said.

"Speaking of father, I was looking for you. I'm surprised your both actually up." Jeralt came up to them, took the broken sword out of Robins hands, gave it one look and sighed.

"I couldn't sleep well." Byleth said, unmoved by his fathers exasperation. "I had that dream again."

"What dream?" Robin asked.

"About that girl again?" Jeralt asked at the same time. The older and younger Eisner looked at each other. Before Robin raised an eyebrow.

"I don't recall any girls. Are you having fantasy dreams Byleth?" The black haired Eisner grinned.

"No." Byleth replied. Jeralt chuckled at his older son.

"Oh come on don't pout kid, Robin was just poking at you, to hide the fact that he's probably the one with indecent dreams." Robin sputtered a protest, red faced but Jeralt was already continuing. "Anyway, I'm glad I caught you both awake, we have a job in the kingdom to do and I don't need you guys tired on the way or during the job. Also, best to put those dreams out of your mind right now, as mercenaries we put our lives on the line almost every day, abstract thoughts will do nothing but land you in an early grave."

"Yes father." Byleth and Robin said at the same time.

"Good, now let's get-"

"Jeralt! Sir you presence is needed immediately!" A mercenary from Jeralt's company came up to them, sweating bullets and panting.

Jeralt mumbled some foul language under his breath before he turned to his mercenary. "Settle down, what happened Dan."

"There a people outside requesting assistance. Kid's it seems." Dan said.

"Why are kids from the village asking for help?" Jeralt asked.

"They aren't from the village sir."

"What? At this time a morning?"

"Father, it may be worth checking out." Robin said. "If it turns out to be nothing we can just send them away."

Jeralt sighed. "Yeah I guess your right, Byleth, come with me. Robin, go find your sword, and for gods sake go put some armor on."

Byleth nodded and followed his father while Robin went inside the inn to retrieve his blade and maybe put on armor.

Remire village was a small run down place that seemed to be caught in between the empire and Kingdom. While it was on the border of Faerghus it was still in central Adrestia. Byleth and Jeralt followed the Mercenary to the entrance of the village where three people were anxiously waiting.

Two young men and a women, teenagers more around his brothers age, but also not much younger than him came fully into his view as he analyzed them. They had what looked to be a black uniform with color variations of blue gold and red. It was an obvious organizational standard but Byleth didn't recognize from where.

The boy in the middle, neat blonde hair and the one wearing blue bowed elegently.

"He's handsome..." A voice spoke in Byleth's head, almost making him flinch. He had almost forgotten about her due to her silence. A girl with the appearance of a child but the presence of someone much more, he hadn't told his family of her. Something was telling him not too.

He was snapped out of his head by the boy speaking. "Please you must forgive our intrusion, we would not bother you if the situation was not dire."

Jeralt gazed at the three of them, all business. "What do the three of you kids want at this hour?

"We're being pursued by a group of bandits, we had hopes you would lend us your support."

"Bandits? Here? Not exactly common."

"It is true sir, we were attacked while at rest in our camp." The girl spoke, the one in red. She had white hair, and her violet eyes were fierce and unwavering, a contrast to what Byleth had seen before they got to them.

Byleth suddenly realized that all three of them looked to be much more confident and calm than before. It almost like a dose of what Jeralt called 'liquid courage' had been handed to them.

"We had some companions with us but we've gotten separated from them, we're outnumbered now. They are after our lives. Not to mention our gold." The last to speak was the one in gold. His dark brown hair was untamed save for a small braid that ran down his left temple. Byleth couldn't recall seeing someone that looked like him before.

Jeralt actually smiled a bit. "I'm impressed you kids are staying so calm considering the situation. I… wait a moment… that uniform your wearing." He trailed off and his eyes strayed to Byleth, and then he even turned slightly to look back at the inn.

"Bandits have been spotted outside the village captain! Hot damn there are a lot of them, at least twenty." Another member of their company rushed towards them, his left arm was bleeding slightly but he looked no worse for wear.

"Damn, must have followed you brats all the way out here, Byleth, we can't abandon the village now. Ready your blade and follow me." He ordered, his face was stern and serious as he looked back at the inn again. "Where the hell is Robin?"

"I'm here father." Robin suddenly appeared almost out of thin air, actually managing to startle Jeralt and the three teenagers. His white blade glittered in the moonlight

"Crap kid you startled the hell out of me, I thought you we-…. Kid. where's your armor." Jeralt narrowed his eyes at his younger son.

"In the inn." Robin strolled past his father who was running a gloved hand down his face and looked at the three teenagers. "So, your the kids who were asking for help?"

"Kids? You look to be pretty much our age." The white haired girl said.

"E-either way, we'll be happy to assist in combat." The blonde haired boy intercepted. "We may not look it but we have some combat experience."

Jeralt opened his mouth to speak but Robin beat him to it. "You ever killed before?"

"E-excuse me?" The brown haired boy stuttered.

"Robin!" Jeralt said his name sternly and the black haired boy froze up. "Stop It now."

"Y-yes father..." Robin sheepishly backed off.

"Anyway, you kids do look like you have some experience..." Jeralt crossed his arms in thought. "Okay, Byleth. Take command of the three kids and your brother, me and the rest will flank around and attack the brunt of them."

Robin sighed, but drew his blade and began some last minute maintenance.

"Understood." His expression blank and void of life, Byleth began moving towards the entrance of the village. "Follow me you four."

The outside of the village was a bunch of small forrests and dirt roads, to the untrained eye this was a very dangerous spot. But Byleth was already taking in the terrain and his companions weapons.

The brown haired boy with the bow, the blonde with the lance, and the girl with the axe. Counting his and his little brothers sword skills, was a plethora of options to take the bandits down.

"Since my brother won't ask. What are your names?" Robin broke the silence. "If you don't tell us he'll just call you axe, lance and bow."

"Oh! My name is Claude, Blondie here is Dimitri and the lovely lady is Edelgard."

"Good. Hey By-"

"Archer, take up a position in the forest, after firing three arrows change where your hiding. Lancer, Robin, lead the charge, Lancer use your weapon to keep a distance, Robin, get behind them. Axe…. Follow me and we'll cut down the remaining enemies."

"And yet he still isn't using your names..." Robin deadpanned. Byleth's eyes flicked to Robin's and the black haired boy nodded.

"Understood." All four of them said in unison. Byleth was secretly relieved, Robin seemed to be willing to listen. Perhaps because there were lives he didn't know on the line.

"You have a strange aura about you… you say you are a mercenary, so show me what you can do." Edelgard said, eyeing him with keen piercing eyes.

Dimitri nodded in agreement. "Thank you. We are in your debt. It wouldn't do for us to fall in a place like this. Byleth was it? Please lend us your strength, let's work together to drive out these thieves!"

Claude for his part was remarkably relaxed, twirling an arrow casually. "It's thanks to you guys that I'm not dead right now. Thanks for that, the gods of fortune must be smiling upon me. I didn't expect to find mercenaries in a run down village like this."

"He isn't the only one here you know..." Robin said, too quietly for anyone else to hear.

"Excuse me, Robin if I may ask..." Dimitri began hesitantly. At a encouraging look from the Lightning Angel he continued. "That sword, I've never seen one so pure white, who crafted it for you?"

Robin thought for a moment. And looked at his weapon: it was pretty similar to a Rapier, but Robin had only seen these specific types of weapons in Brigid and Dagda. "I don't know, father gave me this sword when I turned five, all I know is that it's good for killing people."

Dimitri nodded and turned away from him. Suddenly Byleth raised his arm. "Attack now!"

"Leave it to me!"

"I've got your back!"

"Let's go!"

Robin noticed what looked like the leader of the bandits fell back in surprise and he growled in frustration. "Damn! Why are there mercenaries in the village."

Beside him Dimitri rushed forward with a nearly perfect strike that the bandit managed to fend off, however the enemy couldn't get close without getting hurt, Robin dashed around the enemy's left, twirling his blade slid it across the enemy's throat before the bandit could even register he was there.

Dimitri stared in shock. "You are seriously fast! I'm glad we have you on our side." His eyes widened and he dashed forward towards Robin, who ducked to the side just in time to escape a would be fatal attack from another bandit with a sword, said bandit getting impaled by the lance Dimitri wielded and an arrow flying out of the woods lodging itself in the bandits eye, killing him before he could hit the dirt.

"Thanks Dimitri, nice shot Claude!" Robin said before turning to find his brother and Edelgard fighting against five bandits on their own.

Byleth blocked a strike from one bandit, kicked his knee out and then sliced his head off in such a way that it flew into another bandit, distracting him enough to allow Edelgard to lodge her axe into his skull. He then flipped over Edelgard and stabbed his sword into the mouth of a screaming bandit, pushing it through his skull into another bandit's neck. A death rattle behind him told him Edelgard had killed the last one.

He turned around and suddenly a big burly man with a thick beard was charging at him screaming. "Hey! You with the blank stare, get out of my way!"

"Leader..." Byleth mumbled, meeting the bandit halfway with his sword against the leader's axe, Byleth acted as if he was going to lock his blade with the axe, but as the bandit swung he suddenly stopped moving entirely, making the leader whiff on his attack and getting his axe stuck in the dirt.

Byleth swung his sword towards the burly mans neck but surprisingly the bearded leader yanked his axe out of the dirt and blocked his attack which instead of killing him, knocked him back and onto his butt.

A war cry behind him and Byleth reared back to block the attack of two bandits at the same time, he locked sword with sword and gripped the handle of the bandits axe before it could hit him.

Using all his strength, he lifted his knee and slammed it into the knee of the axe wielding bandit, causing the bandit to cry out and fall to a knee, Byleth yanked the axe out of his hand and lodged it into the back of his neck, then suddenly he doubled the force of his push against the bandit with the sword, knocking his blade into the air, spinning _his_ blade bisecting the bandit down the middle.

He turned to find his little brother and saw him and Claude finishing off another two bandits, with Dimitri close by standing over the bodies of two others, a dark look on his face, clothes covered in blood.

Robin seemed to sense his brother looking at him, because he turned and locked eyes with him and nodded. Byleth nodded back. That was always the way they did things, found each other after a battle and gave a nod. Letting one another know they were okay.

A war cry caught Byleth's attention. And he whipped around to see the Bandit leader charging at Edelgard with his axe raised, who pulled a dagger to try and defend herself.

Byleth charged forward but it was too late, he was too far.

Until Robin suddenly appeared in front of her sword raised, taking the axe into his neck. Edelgard looked in horror as Robin hit the dirt dead, as well as the bandit leader who was clutching his neck gurgling as his body spazzed to death.

Byleth eye's widened and he let out a primal scream of rage. Right before darkness and stillness gripped at his reality.

He looked around in a panic, he would have thought he was dead if it wasn't his brother that got killed instead.

"Honestly! What exactly did he think he was accomplishing with that little stunt!?" The young voice of a girl came from behind him, he knew that voice. He heard it in his dreams and sometimes while awake.

"It's you… what did you do?" Byleth asked. Looking at her from the steps of the throne she sat on.

"Hmph, a little gratefulness would be wonderful, after all I just saved your brothers life. I swear you and the rest of your family are always trying to get yourselves killed." the girl pouted. "And me for that matter."

Before he could even fathom to ask a question the girl continued with a sigh. "Well I guess it's fine this time, after all, you both don't seem to know the value of your own lives. So it's only natural that you wouldn't protect it all that well."

The value of Byleth's life never mattered, that's what _he_ thought at any rate, he was just a wandering mercenary. Easily forgotten. Easily replaced.

Suddenly laughing, the green haired girl stood from her throne. "Well, it's my duty then to guide you right? You may call me… Sothis. But i'm also known as the beginning."

Sothis blinked rapidly before sitting back down. "Sothis… hmm…. Yes… that it it. My name is Sothis, I do not know why I just remembered that. Who once called me by that name I wonder?"

"What are you talking about, and how did you save my brother's life." Byleth managed to ask. She looked down at him and scowled.

"That look upon your face… did you think me a child? A child who forgot her own name? Tsk. That child just saved your brothers life!"

Byleth didn't understand where exactly that came from, but she calmed down from her temper tantrum as quickly as it began.

"No matter, I have stalled the flow of time for now, your brother would have stayed dead if not for me."

Byleth remembered the axe cleaving into his brothers neck and he bowed deeply. "Thank you."

"There now, was thanks so hard? I did deem your brother worth saving after all. Though it is only for a moment, time has stopped. However did I manage that..."

That she herself didn't know was cause for concern. But Byleth didn't feel any fear or anxiety due to the situation being so abnormal. He did feel a little worry for his brother though.

"What will happen to Robin when time resumes?"

"Simple." Sothis said. "He'll stay dead with an axe lodged in his throat, to be honest I am quite surprised he managed to slay that ugly man before he fell."

It was a little despairing to hear that his brother would stay dead, but he rationed it as the price to pay for saving that girl.

"Ugh. How dare you both for dragging me into this mess. Now… what to do to save little Robin..." Sothis put her hands on her chin in thought.

"Turn back the hands of time." The answer came from somewhere deep within Byleth, the words spilling out before he could even think about them.

As if being enlightened, Sothis grinned in pure happiness. "Of course, turn back the hands of time!" A yellow glyph appeared in front of the strange woman the symbols spinning about each other. "Yes… I do believe it can be done, you are quite troublesome. I can not turn time back to far, but all is well. You are aware of what's to come which means you can prevent it, save them. Go the one who bears the flames within his soul, drift through the flow of time to find the answer you seek."

A strange pulling sound surrounded he entire body, and suddenly he was bisecting the bandit again, realizing the situation, Byleth turned and immediately took off in a sprint towards the would-be victim of the Bandit leader's attack.

The leader leaped up and rushed in the same manner as before, however as Edelgard drew her dagger, Byleth was there in time. Pushing her behind him the bandit leader attacked with a war cry.

Axe met sword in a flurry of sparks, the man while larger than Byleth was no match against Byleth's ability. Swinging his blade with both hands, the green haired mercenary shattered the axe and sent the bandit flying back. Breathing deeply, he gripped Edelgard's arm and held her behind him gently, if he looked back he would have seen her blushing.

Suddenly, Robin was there. "After those bandits!" He commanded the rest of the mercenary company, who began to chase down in earnest, then he looked at Byleth and nodded, after a moment of staring, Byleth nodded back. The clomp of hooves made Byleth aware of Jeralt coming up beside them, and as he looked at his father he noticed a puzzled expression on his face that was directed at him.

"Hey… did you just..." He began but was interrupted.

"The Knight's of Seiros are here! We will cut you down for terrorizing our students!" A large group of armored men led by a middle aged fellow with a well groomed mustache and slick back brown hair led the charge, the bandit's however weren't paying attention, they were too busy running for their lives. "Hey the thieves are running away! After them!"

The man that claimed to be a knight began to hurry towards them, Robin drew his sword but Jeralt put a hand on his shoulder and shook his head.

"Don't worry. We… we can trust them." He said.

Robin raised an eyebrow. "Why does it sound like your convincing yourself as well?" He said, but sheathed his blade regardless.

"The students seem to be unharmed.." The man said. "And… who's this?"

"Ugh… why you." Sighing Jeralt lowered his lance, allowing the man a better look at his face.

"C-Captain Jeralt!? It is you! By the goddess it's been ages." The knight approached with a Cheshire grin on his face. "Don't you recognize me? It's Alois! Your old right hand man! Well, that's how I thought of myself anyway. It must have been twenty years ago you went missing without a trace. I was always certain you were still alive."

Robin and Byleth looked at their father for an explanation, but all they got was his back as he spoke to Alois.

"You haven't changed a bit Alois, still as loud as ever. And drop that 'captain' nonsense i'm not your captain anymore. These days, I'm just a wandering mercenary, one that has work to do." Jeralt gestured to the three teens he had helped rescue. "I guess these brats are your students?"

"Why yes! These are the students that were separated from our camp earlier, thank you for taking care of them captain!"

"Pardon the interruption." Robin cut in. "But father, mind explaining who this man is?"

"Father?" Alois echoed, then grinned that Cheshire grin again and bounded up to Robin, who stepped back warily. "Why captain Jeralt. Is this your son?"

Sighing again, Jeralt nodded. "My youngest boy, his names Robin. And before you ask the green haired young man here is his older brother. Byleth, Robin, this is Alois. An old… friend of mine."

"I'm not Jeralt's son, I'm a bandit." Byleth said blankly, bringing a chuckle out of Alois and Robin while Jeralt just rolled his eyes.

"Sense of humor on this one!" Alois said.

"Well." Jeralt began, looking at Byleth and Robin sternly. "Now that our reunion is over, we really must be going as we have work to do, let's go kids. Farewell Alois."

When the three made to leave, Alois gave a laugh and a wave. "Right then, good-bye captain!" Before the three could even take a single step Alois made a strangled noise and grabbed Jeralt and Byleth to stop then. "Now just wait a minute! That can't be how this ends, I insist that you return to the monastery with me!"

"Garreg Mach Monastery… I suppose this was inevitable." Jeralt's reluctance nor the name of the place struck any bells with Byleth but Robin seemed to come to a conclusion.

"I've heard other mercenaries speaking of this Monastery, that's where your religion is based at correct? I don't believe in the goddess you do but I've always been curious, don't you think so too brother?" Robin looked to Byleth for an answer.

Byleth's curiosity was peaked, it seemed to be linked to his father, that and it was most likely much more interesting than whatever job they were supposed to do in the kingdom, after a moment of thought, Byleth nodded. Jeralt's eye twitched and it was obvious he wanted to speak out against the idea, but sighed and gave in despite that.

Alois sensed the reluctance in his former captain's attitude, and he spoke without any tact whatsoever. "What's troubling you, captain? You aren't planning on running off again aren't you?"

"Even I wouldn't dare run from the knight's of Seiros."

_Knight's of Seiros…_ Byleth couldn't place the names, he looked to his brother but found him seemingly just as confused. He also didn't know why his father found them important, or something worth fearing, after all. His father was strong. _Very_ strong. For all of his skill he had never beaten him, and absolutely thrashed Robin on numerous occasions despite the youngest Eisner's superior speed.

"_The Knight's of Seiros do seem rather skilled" _Sothis suddenly blared into his mind. Surprised, Byleth craned his head about but couldn't find her, she began to speak again much to his chagrin. _"Ah! It seems yours and Robins presence is required! Those student's wish to talk with you."_

The students Alois came for were standing with the Knight's of Seiros who stayed behind. They Hailed Byleth and Robin. Byleth, not seeing any reason to not speak with them. Motioned to his brother to follow him.

"I appreciate your help back there, your skill is beyond question." Edelgard smiled faintly at Byleth. The poise she held herself in was completely unlike that of someone of a common birth, the more he spoke to her, the more he gathered that something about her was different than others, it didn't help that her short stature and surprising combat skill attested to this difficulty to figure her out. "You're clearly and experienced mercenary… and your father, that's Jeralt the blade-breaker correct? Former captain of the Knight's of Seiros, oft praised as the strongest knight who to ever live. Have I missed anything?"

Byleth had no way of answering her even if she had. And Robin was staring blankly at her as well. All he knew was his father's nickname, nothing about his past, he never asked and Jeralt never told, Robin _did _but Jeralt refused to talk about It.

Robin felt that this was a critical moment to learn more about their father so he acted. "What are the Knight's of Seiros? I've heard of the church and the followers but nothing else, maybe I haven't because I don't believe in the goddess but I still feel like I should know."

"You don't believe in the goddess?" Edelgard asked in surprise, something glimmered in her eyes but she quickly moved past that. "Scratch that, you haven't heard of the Knight's of Seiros? The most famous order in all of fodlan?"

"That's what I said didn't I?"

"I… I see. How strange." If Edelgard was put off by Robins tone she didn't show it.

"Hey! You are coming to the Monastery with us right?" Claude asked, completely diverting the topic much to Robins frustration. "Of course you are, I'd love to bend your ear as we travel. Oh, I should probably mention that the three of us are students at the officers academy at Garreg Mach Monastery. We were doing some training exercises when those dastardly bandits attacked, I definitely got the worst of it."

Edelgard narrowed her eyes at Claude. "That's because you ran away."

Claude merely laughed off her scathing words. "Too true! I was the first to make a strategic retreat. Everything would have worked out just fine if these two hadn't followed me and ruined everything. Because of them, every. Single. One of those bandits came after us. Utterly ridiculous."

Dimitri, who had been quietly observing the banter between his fellow students spoke up with an extremely fake voice of disappointment and somberness. "Ah, so that's what you were thinking Claude, and here I thought you were acting as a decoy for the sake of us all."

"His intentions were clear as day, you will prove yourself a lacking ruler if you cannot see the truth behind a persons words."

"Hm. You will prove a lacking ruler yourself if you look for deceit behind every word and fail to trust those whom you rely on."

Robin nor Byleth missed the fact that they addressed each other as a ruler. "Are you both Noble birth?" Byleth asked he realized that the way the three of them carried themselves was that of an adolescent leader, sort of like his brother, still immature in some aspects while being able to command their fathers mercenaries.

"Why yes, we are." Dimitri confirmed with a surprised tone in his voice. "How did you know?"

"Are you kidding? You and Edelgard addressed each other as ruler, our mercenary saviors here would have to be pretty oblivious to not connect the dots."

"Oblivious. A nice way of saying quite unintelligent." Robin crossed his arms, but he was smiling slightly. Claude laughed.

"Too true my friend, too true."

"Coming from you Claude, I'm surprised that your lack of self-awareness isn't a condition of some sort, especially since you are incapable of keeping quiet for longer than five seconds."

"IN any case." Dimitri cleared his throat awkwardly and looked Byleth squarely in the eyes. "The way you held your ground against the bandits was utterly captivating! You never lost control of the situation, it showed me I still have much to learn."

"_Except you did, but thanks to me they're none the wiser._" Sothis' smug voice rang inside Byleth's mind, but he managed to keep his shock under wraps. Edelgard interrupted Dimitri to speak.

"Your skill is precisely why I must ask that you lend your services to the Empire. I might as well tell you now, I am no mere student. I am also the Adrestian Empire's-"

"Halt Edelgard." Dimitri held a hand up for her silence. "Please allow me to finish my own proposition. The Holy Kingdom of Faerghus is in dire need of exceptional individuals like yourself. Please do consider returning to the Kingdom with me."

"...I think I'm gonna remove myself from this conversation." Robin said, leaving without another word. The three nobles stared at him for a moment. Byleth with a deep frown at his little brothers back as he walked away briskly.

"I… I feel quite bad suddenly, he was just as much apart of that battle." Dimitri said.

"I agree, it was rude to act as if he wasn't there, even by accident." Edelgard said.

"This is what happens when you try and beg for favors right off the bat." Claude said with a light scoff. "I was personally planning on building a deep and long lasting relationship with the both of them before begging for favors, tactless guys. Really."

Claude suddenly got a strange twinkle in his eye. "So capable stranger, as there are no niceties in this world clearly, let's get right to the big question, where does your allegiance lie? The kingdom, Empire or Alliance? Which is my territory."

The question seemed innocent enough, but for some reason the air got heavier as the question left his lips.

Sothis was clearly amused by the question. _"Hmm. It seems like ones place of birth is quite significant to them, yet they are so impressed by you that you may take your pick. Well?" _

Byleth thought about it for a moment, one of the rules that his father had told him was to only be loyal to a contract, as a wandering mercenary he had no other obligations aside that. However he actually took a moment to truly think about it, how _he_ felt in the areas that each major power controlled.

After a long silence, he answered. "The Leicester Alliance, for their freedom and purity."

Claude grinned devilishly while the other two looked disappointed at his response.

"What about your brother?" Edelgard suddenly asked, her eyes alight with interest. "Where does his allegiance lie?"

"Plot twist. It's the Leicester Alliance again." Claude said. Both Dimitri an Edelgard ignored him.

"I don't know, you'd have to ask him."

"Just try thinking about it. Your brother must have some tell of his allegiance." Dimitri begged.

Byleth thought about his brother, Robin had never really acted any particular way towards the Major powers, he always seemed to teeter on neutral ground…

But then Byleth suddenly remembered a conversation between them. Just an idle one about the major powers before they began their mercenary work.

"_Brother… I have a question." Byleth had suddenly asked Robin one day._

"_What is it Byleth?"_

"_What are your thought's on the Three major powers of Fodlan?" Robin eyed him in confusion and Byleth couldn't exactly blame him, even he didn't know where the question came from._

"_My thought's on the Major powers?" Robin echoed, then shrugged. "I don't know, if anything I would probably like the Empire more, they may have fallen from their former glory but instead of the reckless freedom the Alliance and the blind diligence of the Kingdom, I'd probably prefer the unity of the empire. They strike me as someone who could keep the peace more effectively."_

The memory suddenly and violently disappeared from Byleth's mind like a wisp in the wind. But luckily he had his answer.

"I believe my brother would be loyal to the Adrestian Empire." He finally answered.

"Curse the goddess for my luck." Dimitri lamented. Edelgard didn't openly react but it was obvious she was elated, and her eyes were calculating. As if she was planning something.

"Hey guys." Robin came back up to them. "Alois wanted me to tell you it's time to head back to the monestary."

"My my, looks like we'll have to pick up this discussion another time." Claude said as he and his two companions left to find Alois.

"Why'd you walk away from the conversation?" Byleth asked once the students were out of earshot.

Robin shrugged. "The usual reason, they were more interested in you than me."

"Are you angry?"

Robin smiled. "Not really, a little jealous maybe but you don't get to interact with people much. That was good for you."

Byleth nodded. "They were… unique people."

"I agree… Edelgard looks to be a fine young woman, but her eyes are rather evaluating, almost like she's staring into your soul." Robin said, his expression troubled.

"...Dimitri, the blonde boy, he looks like the picture of what you'd expect from a noble, but I noticed during the battle a dark look came over him… somethings off about him." Byleth continued. "That boy Claude, his smiles were charming enough but..."

"He looked like he was trying to find out all your secrets..." Robin finished. "That knight Alois, he called them students… but they're more than that. Have to be."

"_I agree with you both." _Sothis chimed in suddenly, but she sounded tired, yawning as she was speaking. "_I thought much the same… I am so sleepy once again… I may be sleeping… but… I…."_

Her voice faded out leaving Byleth with his brother and his thoughts.

A strange being in his mind, a group of students in need of help against bandits. And order of Knights related to his father, which he had somehow never heard about. This was the strangest and most interesting morning he'd ever had.

"Hey you two. What are you standing around for?" Jeralt spoke from behind them, his footsteps nearly silent despite his large size and heavy armor. "Did you want to go? You said as much to Alois. Don't tell me your having second thoughts?"

"...What is Garreg Mach father? The Knight's of Seiros?" Byleth asked, Robin silently applauding his brother for finally asking about their fathers past.

Sighing, Jeralt rubbed the back of his neck. "I should have figured you'd ask… I could explain it to you now but it'd… probably be better just to show it to you, maybe a small explanation would suffice. Garreg mach Monastery is the headquarters of the church of Seiros, and it also doubles as an academy for young nobles like those brats you met earlier. As for the Knights of Seiros, they are the main force of the church."

"And you used to be the captain?" Robin asked.

"A long time ago… before even Byleth was born. Are you kids mad I kept it a secret from you?"

"...No." Byleth said.

"Not really." Robin asked. "I'm just glad you finally talked about it… I still don't know who my mother is, I'm hoping to find out any sort of clue."

"You know If I knew that I'd tell you kiddo." Jeralt said, a soft look in his eyes to his youngest child. "The day Byleth found you in the woods, covered in blood..."'

Jeralt shook his head, as if shaking off the memory, then nodded decisively. "All right. Then if there's nothing else let's go. I already told the company we'll be parting ways, my second in command will be taking over as the new leader. Meanwhile Byleth, why don't you go assist Alois? He wanted you to double as a guard for those students."

"And me?" Robin asked.

"He didn't ask anything of you, just do what you want."

"...Yeah. Sure."

**A/N: This is mainly a test run for a fire emblem fanfic that I wanted to try, kinda burning into my mind a bit and just had to let the creativity run through. If you liked it leave a review, if you didn't that's fine too, just don't be rude because no one in this world deserves to get Karen'd except for other Karens.**


	2. Chapter 2

The journey to the Monastery was only about a day's worth of traveling even on foot. Because Robin and his family had abruptly left the mercenary company, they gave them their horses as repayment. It wouldn't have made sense to bring the horses anyway, as Alois, the Knights and the students didn't have any themselves. Jeralt walked at the head of the Knights with Alois, leaving Byleth to speak with the students. Robin walked close behind them, observing the four and humming an old heroes tale about some king of liberation that he'd heard a wandering minstrel sing tales of.

Byleth looked decidedly out of his element conversing with the Edelgard, Claude and Dimitri, which didn't surprise the youngest Eisner, His brother was socially inept at the best of times, usually just nodding with a disturbing silence, there were many conversations that ended quickly because Byleth didn't really respond.

It was made more difficult by the fact that each of the three students had severely clashing personalities. Just compounded by the fact that as an experienced mercenary, he no doubt was capable of catching their persona's that were carefully hidden under the masks they wore.

Making good on his promise however, Claude talked his ear off about anything and everything, to which Byleth would nod or give short answers too. Robin was nearly positive he hadn't uttered a full sentence. Dimitri would join the conversation with tidbits of his own opinions, or to ask about Byleth's mercenary life and his style of fighting. Once, Dimitri had turned back to Robin and asked him some of the same questions.

A clear attempt at conversation, which Robin didn't _not_ care about but wasn't exactly committed to. Edelgard for her part was silent for most of the way, attentive but not active in the conversation, which is why Robin was surprised when she slowed to his walking speed and struck up a conversation.

"You have a surprisingly lovely singing voice." She said. "Are you trained at all?"

Robin stopped humming and smiled at her politely. "Not really, just kind of sang a bit when I wasn't working any mercenary job, some of our mercenaries overheard me once and commented that I was actually pretty decent, so it kind of stuck."

"Your mother must be very impressed."

The youngest Eisner's smile became sad. "I don't know my mother, or my father, they died before I could remember them I suppose."

Edelgard did a double take. "W-wait, your telling me you aren't related to your family?"

"Indeed I am." Robin shrugged his shoulders. "According to father, my brother found me in the woods covered in blood by a river at the end of one of their jobs. As if I was moved there, yet there were no signs that I was. I had to only be about four years old…. That was about… fifteen years ago? I have no memories of my life before then."

Edelgard gave him a look of sympathy. "I am truly sorry to have brought it up."

Robin smiled at her, genuinely and patted her head, her face reddening in embarrassment "It's okay, I find it fortunate enough that I know my own age at the very least. Besides, I used to pray to the goddess every night for their return only to be met with nothing. I learned to accept it."

Edelgard's eyes caught a strange gleam. "Is that when you lost faith in the goddess?"

"It's much more complicated then that. But I suppose that's one reason."

"What are some others?"

"...I don't know if it's just a strange nature of mine... But usually when I have to kill someone and they beg for the goddess to save them… A sickening part of me wants that goddess to come down and attack me. So I can kill _her_ for not saving my parents…"

Edelgard was silent for a long moment. "I don't disagree with you..." She whispered suddenly. "But… I would be wary of saying that at the monestary"

Robin burst out laughing, drawing a sly look from Claude before turning back to Byleth. "I'm not stupid enough to speak of murdering the goddess in a place overrun with believers. Even if I could strike a lot of them down."

"Oh so your telling me you could cut down our Knight Alois up front?" Edelgard teased, Robin missed it however and spoke seriously.

"Yes… Yes I could kill him, because he's slow, if i'm faster than you I'm sure I could kill you… unless your my father or my brother."

As they emerged from the trees, a clear view of a mountain came into their vision, Ramparts surrounded the foot of the mountain on which what could only be described as a fortress rested at, just outside of it was a large village in remarkable condition. If Robin had to put a name to it. It reminded him of a kingdom. Wyvern's and Pegasus flew about the entire fortress buildings, which despite the age of them, looked immaculately placed.

"There it is." Edelgard said, quietly assertive with her words. "Garreg Mach Monastery."

_I thought we were walking to a church… not a fortress. _Robin thought, wary of his surroundings as he trod through the village closer to the Monastery gates.

The soldiers keeping guard allowed them entry when they saw Alois and the students, Following behind Byleth and Jeralt he nearly bumped into them when they stopped.

"Rhea's here..."

"Rhea?" Both Eisner whispered at the same time.

Robin tracked his fathers line of sight skyward onto a balcony where a striking women looked down upon them with a pensive expression, her soft green hair fluttering in the cool breeze of midday, and her matching eyes gazing down at them. Her white dress with many expensive looking adornments gave off a noble and divine aura.

"The three of you should return to your houses. Your classmates were in a frenzy over your well-being." Alois said as they came to a stop in the courtyard. "The rest of the Knights and I will make our report to lady Rhea. Jeralt, why don't you and your children go wait in the audience chamber? I'll inform her of your arrival. She'll be so pleased to see you've returned, with your company as well!"

Jeralt looked like he decidedly _didn't_ want to do that. "We'll do that Alois, thanks." Was what he said instead.

"Do you happen to need a guide? it's been well over twenty years since you've left this place."

"No that's fine, I still remember this place clearly. You go report to Rhea."

"Then please, excuse me!" Alois said brightly.

"Excuse us as well, Sir Byleth, Sir Jeralt, Sir Robin." Dimitri bowed formally. "I thank you once again for coming to our aide, if the opportunity presents itself I would like to treat you as a courtesy."

"Yup, we'll be here at the officers academy if you have need of us. Come around and we could talk more." Claude smiled.

"Indeed." Edelgard said, then looked at Robin and bowed elegently. "Our… discussion was quite enlightening, please if you ever would like to talk more then I'll be here."

Robin nodded. Then decided words might be best here. "It was a pleasure Edelgard. Farewell."

"Not your usual bunch of kids." Jeralt shook his head as he watched the teens depart. "But it seems you boys got along well with them… that's good I suppose. Anyway, let's go. I'm sure you have plenty of questions, and I will answer them, but only when I figure out our next plan of action."

"Of course." Byleth said.

"Yeah, sure." Robin said.

"Hmph. Always leaving the formalities to me huh?" Smiling, Jeralt led the way through the monastery.

Robins thoughts of a fortress were enhanced at the sheer scale of the Monastery from the inside, the entire structure was masterfully maintained despite it's age. Almost like magic. It made his head spin.

And that was ignoring the fact there were many different types of people, some wearing the same black uniform as the three students, Knights wearing similar armor to Alois. And some wearing white robes with a large unknown symbol on them that Robin could only assume was of the actual church part of the church.

They reached the audience chamber after being allowed in by the guards outside. Robin noticed that some of the older people of the place stared at his father in gaping awe. Were they shocked from seeing Jeralt again? Or was it because he hadn't seemed to age at all?

"It's been years since I've last seen this place… To be forced to see her now..." Jeralt lamented, scratching the back of his neck.

"Her…?" Byleth asked.

"The woman in the courtyard. You saw her didn't you? Lady Rhea… the Archbishop."

Robin and Byleth shared a private look. It was the name Alois said before, while he spoke with adoration… their father spoke with hesitation. Robin saw Byleth trying to picture the pieces of Jeralt's past together despite not outwardly showing it.

"As you know. The majority of the folks in Fodlan are devout followers of the teachings of Seiros. The leader of that ridiculously large organization is Archbishop Lady Rhea."

"Twenty years ago… Alois said you've been missing for twenty years… So how old is Rhea then?" Robin's brain was practically smoking, he wasn't dumb. But he currently felt like it. His brother didn't know his age, roughly a little old than twenty. His father was a complete mystery. The only one who was sure of his age was Robin himself. Who was one year from twenty. Yet the woman in the courtyard didn't look much older than her early twenties.

He was getting a headache. And the feeling that something wasn't right just wouldn't go away. Robin found he suddenly didn't want to be at the monastery anymore.

"Well..." before Jeralt could answer the door behind them burst open so suddenly that Robin drew his sword in a panic. Only to sheathe it a few seconds later: red-faced as Lady Rhea walked in with another man. Dark-green hair. Green eyes and facial hair-they looked like they could be distant relatives due to their similar hair color. A youthful man wearing formal clothing and a circlet upon his brow. The two stood before the three of them tall and proud.

"I saw that young man. While it is good for you to be wary of your surroundings, I can assure you that you will come to no harm here." The man said to Robin before turning to his father. "Thank you for your patience Jeralt, my name is Seteth. I am an adviser to the archbishop."

"Right. Hello."

Lady Rhea smiled, her hands folded over her stomach. "It has been a long time Jeralt. I wonder… was it the will of the goddess that we meet again like this?"

Robin was certain a lesser man would fall in love with Rhea in seconds her voice was so charming and youthful. It was most likely expected with her position either way.

Jeralt bowed. "Forgive my silence all these years… much has happened since we last spoke."

"So I see. The miracle of fatherhood has blessed you not once. But twice." Lady Rhea's gaze shifted from Byleth to Robin. Though the latter noticed it lingered on the former for a moment longer than necessary. "They are you children yes? Such lovely young men."

"Yes..." There was a short pause before Jeralt continued speaking. "Both born many years after I left this place. I wish I could introduce you to their mother… but we lost her to illness."

Byleth and Robin had to resist looking at each other. Their father was either being very ambiguous or straight up lying. Because if Byleth was born many years after he left the monastery, then that means Byleth was younger than Robin. That didn't make any sense. But why would their father lie?

Rhea's face fell… and became saddened. "I see… my condolences Jeralt… As for you." She turned to Byleth. "I've heard of your valiant efforts from Alois, will you tell me your name sweet child?"

Upon being asked for his name, Byleth bowed, imitating Jeralt. "Byleth Eisner."

Rhea then turned and gazed at Robin. "Sweet child, I fear Alois did not tell me much about you, however, I heard some rumblings from the students you saved that you are very fast. Will you tell me your name also?"

Robin stood to his full height. "I am Robin Eisner. My lady." He added at the last second.

Rhea looked pleased. "Fine names indeed. From the bottom of my heart, I thank you for saving the students of the officers academy."

"Hmph." Jeralt grunted.

"You already know what it is I wish to say Jeralt?"

"You want me back in the Knights of Seiros… I wont say no but… I won't have you roping my sons into them either."

"Your apprehension stings Jeralt. I had already expected Alois to have asked this of you." Lady Rhea smiled despite her words. Clearly, they had known each other for many, many years. However they looked much younger than they should have been to supposedly know each other from so long ago. Their banter suggested years of friendship. And if twenty years had passed then Lady Rhea should be slightly younger than Jeralt at best?

Robin was beginning to get a headache, Lady Rhea's eyes lingered for a long moment on Jeralt before sliding over to Byleth. "I must step away for now, but I expect they will desire a word with you soon… so please listen carefully to what they have to say… until tomorrow, farewell."

_They?_

Who was they?

"Jeralt…Byleth...Robin." Seteth inclined his head, then promptly turned to follow behind lady Rhea.

Robins eyes followed the archbishop, and… something happened that gave him pause. For a moment almost so quick he barely percepted it… rhea seemed to change into something… not human, but then slithered back into a human like it was a trick of the light.

The youngest Eisner's heart was pounding, and upon laying his right hand on his chest he noticed a soft purple glow emanating from his right wrist down to his elbow, fading away into nothingness.

Robin thought it looked a bit like a dragon. Looking at his family, he was somewhat relieved to see that they seemed to have missed his glowing arm. But now his mind was full of questions, most of them being what did he just see?

Jeralt sighed for what seemed like the thousandth time in the span of an hour. "I cant believe It… forced back into the Knights of Seiros. I'm sorry I dragged you two into this. Looks like I'll be stuck here for a while..."

Then he turned to Byleth. "It looks like… your services are requested here as well."

"I must… work here?" Byleth asked. His voice hoarse, surprisingly his eyes flickered to Robin for an instant before going back to Jeralt. "As a mercenary?"

"...What would a church need a mercenary for when they have their own group of Knights to do their bidding?" Robin asked. "And… what about me?"

Jeralt ignored the second part of the question. "They want you to teach by the sound of it. You heard those brats earlier talking about the officers academy right? Well, the academy just happens to be short of a professor and apparently that damned Alois went ahead of me and recommended you to Lady Rhea."

Byleth actually looked somewhat annoyed. "Must we?"

"It's not wise to turn down an… invitation from Lady Rhea. For now, we'll have to accommodate them. There is a bright side to this. Us three can stay in one place for a while and we'll have a steady income, I know you never exactly enjoyed the life of a mercenary, this job will give you a chance to try your hand at something new."

Robin cut in. "Two… Just… you two."

"Excuse me?" Jeralt asked.

"I was… forgotten about again. So what am I supposed to do father?"

Jeralt clearly hadn't thought about that, and Robin would be lying if he said he didn't feel hurt by this. It was always this way, Jeralt and Byleth's achievements always outshining his, that stupid moniker 'Lightning Angel' wasn't even that well known, only the mercenary company they led really knowing it.

"Never mind father. I'll leave now, there's no place for me here. I'll see about that mercenary job in Faerghus." Robin turned to his father and began to stride to the door.

"Robin-" Jeralt was cut off by the doors opening, and two people strolling inside, a man and a woman. Without a word Robin ducked past them and left.

"So… you must be the new professor. My how stern and handsome you are." Is all Robin heard before he was too far away.

**Line Break**

Robin didn't really get a chance to explore the village outside the monastery but he noticed how much better it looked compared to other villages, there were Knights of Seiros about the town, lines of stalls and the bustle of the people trying to bargain they're way to better prices. Street performers doing they're dangerous stunts for tons of gold.

"Hey you little brat! Come here now!" A voice yelled above the crowd silencing it somewhat and a little screech could be heard.

_Where there's money to be made, there's also crime I suppose._ Robin thought, curiosity driving him to nudge his way through the crowd, careful to mind his coin purse.

In the epicenter of the gathering crowd was a small male child, no older than ten or twelve, struggling to free himself from the grip of a rather shady merchant, the man looked more like a pirate to Robin.

"You thought you could get away with that you little shit? Give me what you stole from me!" The man savagely yanked the kid to him and reached into the boy's raggedy pocket, yanking out a rather lovely diamond and gold necklace.

"Let me go!" the boy screeched, giving the pirate looking merchant a swift kick to the shin.

The merchant yelled in pain, and dropped the necklace by sheer circumstance landing at Robin's feet, Robin bent to pick it up as the man grabbed the boy by the hair, the child screaming in pain.

Robin examined the necklace, the glittering adornments on it were in the shape of a lion, which signified a warriors bearing. A higher ranking necklace at that due to the diamonds, he knew what this was. It was a Brigid tribal necklace for a chief or king.

It was also _only _made for a chief or king. Which means either this merchant found it by pure luck. Or… he stole it.

"Hey boy! Thanks for grabbing that for me, hand it here would ya?" The merchant reached his hand out and tried to grab for the necklace but Robin kept it out of his reach.

"What's going on here?" Robin demanded, affecting a tone of voice that he heard his father use on his mercenaries, by the sudden shift on the mans face and the way the surrounding crowd backed up. It worked better than he intended.

"Th-this little rat tried to steal from me obviously." the merchant gestured to the boy he was holding by the hair, who was sobbing quietly now. "I was about to teach him a lesson until you showed up sir."

"I see..." Robin muttered. _They think I'm a knight._ "What… manner of goods do you sell merchant?"

The shady merchant puffed himself up, but didn't release the boy from his grip. "I am a prize seller, I sell things I acquire from all over the world! Almyra, Dagda, the Empire, Faerghus! The Alli-"

"Brigid?" Robin cut in, raising an eyebrow, the merchant began to sweat a little.

"N-Not there sir."

"Then explain to me how you have a necklace from Brigid. Meant for a chief or king? Made _only_ for a chief or king? And then give me a reason not to strike you down."

The shady merchant gaped like a fish out of water before releasing his grip from the boy and drawing two hidden daggers. "Damn you, you dastard! Boy's! Let's kill this fool and then escape."

Out of the shadows five large men strolled out with their weapons drawn, all of them were holding pirate cutlasses and looked like a stereotypical pirate.

The crowd backpedaled in fear, and the boy scrambled behind him, Robin didn't even flinch, hadn't even drawn his sword yet. "You idiots couldn't even put in the effort to look like anything other than pirates or crooks, and you smell too."

"Shut up!" The now revealed pirate snarled. "well 'ave your 'ead for that one!"

Robin gently put the necklace around his neck, then slowly drew his sword, wielding it with his _left_ hand. "Hey kid."

The boy squeaked at being addressed but looked at him fearfully. Robin smiled at him then turned away.

"Go alert the Knights, they're gonna have some bodies to clean up." he didn't see the boy run off, but he heard him.

"There's only going to be one body today, an' that's yours!" The pirates all came at him at once. Each swinging they're weapons at him wildly one at a time.

Robin parried _all_ of them, the last guy, a pale man with a head completely devoid of any hair, was the first to fall, locking his sword with the pirate, he dragged his blade up the length of the pirates, showering painful sparks on the other pirates as his sword cut halfway through the pale mans neck, blood exploded from his neck in a flurry, coating his clothes with it as the light faded from his eyes.

The crowd screamed, Robin turned to the other pirates and smiled. "One down."

Robin lunged at the nearest pirate, a man with hair down to his back, and impaled him through the mouth, crushing his teeth and slicing his tongue out to fast for anyone in the crowd to see, he gargled horribly for a moment before blood ran out of his nose. Eyes, rolling back into his head as he died.

He swung his blade in the direction of the remaining pirates, splashing their comrades blood on them. The man with the dual daggers growled in fear and anger. "Y-you sick bastard! You're enjoying this!"

Robin smiled again. "Two down."

One of the pirates screamed in fear, and turned and began to run, begging for mercy.

He didn't make it two steps, his head however was still running. His body though was on the pavement, blood staining a large area around him.

Robin didn't lose his smile. "Three."

Another pirate attacked, Robin raised his sword to block but suddenly the pirate let the sword drop from his hands, only to catch it and inch from the ground and swing it up with a battle cry.

It stayed on the ground, and the pirate stared in fear at the reason why. Robin had blocked the strike by simply _stepping _on the sword. The pirate yanked his sword so hard that it flung out of his hands and into the crowd.

"Nice trick, but it wasn't enough." Robin said.

"P-please! Please don't kill me! Look me in my eyes! Please I'm _begging _you not to-" The pirate stopped talking, and the eyes he asked Robin to look into were suddenly gone, crushed into his brain by The Lightning Angels sword hilt.

Robin wasn't smiling anymore. "...Four." He said, as he dashed forward the last bandit with a sword got to raise it just in time for him to lose both of his hands, before loosing his life via a stab to the heart.

He couldn't even be seen that time.

"Five..." the youngest Eisner looked at the last pirate-the leader with the daggers- with eyes so cold and lifeless they rivaled his brothers.

"Y-You will not kill me like those fools! I am Nigel the Cutthroat! And I will escape."

"You will fall to my blade." Robin said. "I am Robin, the Lightning angel."

He roared a desperate battle cry and rushed at Robin with a surprising speed, Nigel swung his left dagger which Robin ducked and followed up with a stab from his right. Robin side stepped and slammed his left elbow down as hard as he could on his attackers wrist, and the pirate howled in agony as it snapped like a twig and he stumbled back.

Robin gripped his sword with both hands and swung across Nigel's stomach. blood flowed like a river from the wound and the pirate's hands hovered over the opening, his internal organs spilling out.

Nigel's eyes rolled back into his head and he collapsed, splashing blood on Robin's pants. Robin swung most of the blood off his blade, coating the side of a building with the crimson liquid.

"Six… that's all of them." Robin muttered quietly, he finally allowed himself to de-focus, and noticed that everyone that watched the fight was staring at him in fear, the bystanders retreating when he scanned them with his eyes.

His eyes widened when he caught his reflection in the glass of a nearby shop. He was splattered with blood, his hair was a wild mess, and his sword was dripping blood.

And his right arm was glowing purple. A scattering of armored footsteps assaulted his ears, and the people cleared for a large group of men and one woman in white armor.

_The Knights of Seiros, that's twice now they've been late._ Robin thought idly, he was about to sheathe his sword when the woman, a blonde woman who was probably in her mid to late twenties, drew a glowing tree shaped sword and aimed it at him.

"What in the name of the goddess happened here?" She asked, hostility in every word and action she made.

"...I killed them." Robin said, he noticed his arm was still glowing. "They attacked me for taking something they stole. So I killed them. They were pirates."

The blonde woman took a second look at the scene, her face pinched with disgust. "Killing them is one thing, but… Saint's you _slaughtered_ them like they were cattle."

Robin looked around at the bodies and sea of blood. "I've seen worse…. They're heads are still… mostly intact…" Then he saw the pirate who tried to run on him. "Except him, he… tried to run. I'm sure his heads somewhere down that avenue though."

"I… Come with us now. Your under arrest." she glared at him. Robin didn't like the way she was looking at him.

"You want to arrest me for doing the right thing?" Robin asked, he shook his head. "They stole from a Chief or King of Brigid, and now I'm the one in trouble?"

"You don't get to decide that, come with us _now._ If you refuse, then I - Catherine of the Knight's of Seiros - will be forced to subdue you."

Robin sighed. "Then you to will fall to my sword."

Catherine lunged at him across the bloodied pavement and swung her blade, Robin blocked… or attempted to, his eyes widened as he was launched backwards into a cart full of cabbages, shattering the cart and most of the cabbages.

"My cabbages!" Someone in the crowd cried out. Robin got up on shaky legs, pain rocketing up his back in waves.

"Surrender." Catherine said.

Robin responded by phasing out of her sight, her eyes widened before she rolled forward, getting blood in her hair, but saving herself from a death by decapitation. She raised her sword just in time for a sweeping strike to clash against it.

"Catherine do you need our help!" A Knight of Seiros yelled.

"Don't you get any closer! Keep the crowd back!" she yelled in response. "This guy will kill you effortlessly!" she grunted with effort as she forced Robin's blade into the air, swinging her, letting partway go of her sword she hit her foe in the face with a fiercely metal gloved back-hand.

Robin wobbled backwards, but didn't fall. Catherine was actually impressed, the stranger could take a hit. Or maybe…..

Her eyes fell to his crest, she'd _never_ seen one that glowed that brightly or one that big, she couldn't tell, but it seemed to cover almost his entire right arm.

Suddenly, she almost died. Literally, if it wasn't for her natural instincts she would be dead, she parried a vicious stab from Robin then blocked a powerful overhead strike. His attacks weren't particularly powerful, in fact they were a bit on the weaker side.

But the kid just seemed to _phase_ out of existence, it was either that or he was just unbelievably fast, he was also left handed, which made it harder for her to predict his attacks.

Robin went for another overhead strike which Catherine raised to block, only to feel a sharp pain blossom in her left leg as she nearly went down. She swung her sword and came up empty as her opponent jumped back.

"Cheeky brat." Catherine said, favoring her right leg now. "You feinted me."

"You don't have to die today, Catherine."

"Funny, I didn't say you were gonna kill me. As a matter of fact, this fight is over."

"Oh?" Robin raised an eyebrow.

Her sword. Thunder-brand glowed brightly and with the speed of a lightning bold _she _hit him with a combat art called wind-step. Incredibly, Robin blocked the attack, but his sword rocketed into the air as he was launched into a shield wall created by the Knights of Seiros under her command, he hit head first, which knocked him out instantly.

She caught his sword out of the air and admired it, it was a fine blade, and under the blood it looked to be completely white, which meant it was likely Brigid made.

Her thoughts were interrupted by one of her fellow Knights. "Hey Catherine! I recognize this kid, he was with the blade-breaker! He's his youngest son!"

Catherine strolled over and picked the kid up princess style. "It doesn't matter who he is at the moment, let's get back to the Monastery."

A sniffle caught her attention, and she realized that it was from the _kid_ she just fought. She looked at him, surprised. Because he was crying in his sleep. It shouldn't have, but for some reason it pulled at her heartstrings.

"Catherine?" A Knight called. "Is something wrong?"

"...No. Nothing."

_**A/N: Another chapter out, oh yeah. I decided I wanted Robin to have the spotlight in this chapter since he is my character after all. But the story shouldn't be all about him.**_

_**Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter.**_


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